Ana Ivanovic

"I am pretty happy. But there are so many things I have to still improve." - Ana Ivanovic

In 2007, Ana Ivanovic was ranked among the world's the top five female tennis players by the WTA, and in '08, she became the first Serbian female player to win a Grand Slam singles title after she won the French Open.

SEX APPEAL

Ana Ivanovic is sexy, from her smile to her fun demeanor, and she says she can't wait to meet Mr. Right, even if her schedule is jam-packed. "When that happens, and if he feels the same way about me, I'm sure we can make it work," she says.

You could call Ana Ivanovic the Serbian girl-next-door. Just like many girls next door, she loves music, especially the R&B variety, and makes a point of attending concerts between matches. She even attended the Princess Diana Memorial Concert on a break from Wimbledon in July 2007.

SUCCESS

Ana Ivanovic is fast on her feet and covers the court well, which makes her height an asset rather than a disadvantage. She plays point-by-point without letting mistakes bother her. With a serve that reaches up to 125 miles per hour, she's one of the fastest out there. She won the French Open in 2008, has been ranked as Serbia's No. 1 tennis player and in the top 5 female players worldwide, and has additionally gotten to at least the quarter-finals in every Grand Slam.

Ana Ivanovic Biography

Ana Ivanovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 8, 1987. She thanks her parents, Dragana and Miroslav, for supporting her tennis dreams for her entire life. Even though she's the famous athletic name in the family, Ana's relatives have also done their fair share of sports. Her younger brother, Milos, plays basketball and her uncle is a former football player.

Tennis first became a dream for Ana Ivanovic when she watched it on TV at a young age, with her favorite player being Monica Seles. At the age of 4, Ana memorized the phone number for a local tennis club that advertised on TV. She persuaded her parents to call and the rest is history. A year later, she was playing and one of her friends was Novak Djokovic, who became the third-ranked player in the world. A steady player at 5, Ana Ivanovic had already decided that tennis was for her.

ana ivanovic against venus williams

Ana Ivanovic's tennis dreams encountered difficulties because of her surroundings. In 1999, there were NATO bombings in her homeland, which forced her to practice in the morning and eventually in a deserted swimming pool because there was nowhere else to play. In order to give herself a better opportunity, she moved to Switzerland at 15 and was sponsored by her manager. Without the money to cover her move, Ana Ivanovic promised to pay for it based on her winnings. It didn't start well when she lost in front of her manager for the first time and cried for hours until he discouraged her negative thinking and stayed by her side.

In 2004, Ana Ivanovic started playing professionally and gained notice when she was undefeated as a challenger at the Junior Wimbledon Tournament. Her highlight of the year was eventually playing against Venus Williams and, even though Ana lost the match, it showed that she could keep up with an elite player.

ana ivanovic wins canada masters

Ana Ivanovic's taste for winning began in 2005 when she won her first singles title in Canberra, Australia. She also joined the French Open and made it to the third round before being eliminated. Later that year, she also played in the Australian Open and lost. Losing was never fun, but Ana was gaining confidence at how far she was climbing in just a short time. Despite the losses and an injury, her successful run was causing her overall ranking to rise.

A year later, Ana Ivanovic had one of her most successful matches by defeating ex-No. 1 player Martina Hingis at the Canada Masters. Ana built on the experience by winning the United States Open Series. Just as in the previous year, a nagging injury slowed her progress, but she finished 2006 ranked at No. 15 in singles and No. 51 in doubles, which she did on the side.

ana ivanovic wins the east west bank classic

In 2007, after losing the third round of the Australian Open, she replaced her coach, David Taylor, with Sven Groenefeld. The change appeared to pay off when she made the final at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, only to lose to old foe Martina Hingis. Soon after, Ana Ivanovic won the Qatar Telecom German Open, which helped her crack WTA's top 10 rankings. Ana's winning touch continued when she won the East West Bank Classic, upping her ranking to No. 4, and she followed it up by making it to the French Open final and the Wimbledon semifinals.

As a testament to Ana Ivanovic's down-to-earth and giving personality, she was selected as a UNICEF National Ambassador in 2007 in her home country of Serbia. This gave her the chance to work on important issues like child protection and education by visiting local schools. Even though Ana's busy enough with her tennis duties, having a cause that is close to her heart makes her life that much more rewarding.

ana ivanovic wins 2008 french open

At the '08 Australia Open, Ana Ivanovic, for the first time, reached the quarterfinals, overtook the powerful Venus Williams, but was defeated by Maria Sharapova. However, the headway she made brought her up to a No. 2 ranking in the world.

Then, at the French Open, she defeated Jelena Jankovic, No. 3 in the world, and then went on to beat Dinara Safina and take home her first Grand Slam singles final. However, her luck took a turn for the worst at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing when she had to withdraw from the competition due to an injury. Then, at the US Open, although she reclaimed her No. 1 ranking, she lost in the second round match.

Ana Ivanovic made it to the quarterfinals of the China Open, yet she lost to powerhouse Serena Williams at the Zurich Open. The next few years proved to be tough ones for Ana as she set a record for the most consecutive Grand Slams (17) without a quarter-final appearance by a former Grand Slam champion. In 2012, however, Ana Ivanovic was able to break this lackluster streak after making it to the quarter-finals in the US Open.